System and method for topology-aware job scheduling and backfilling in an HPC environment

ABSTRACT

A method for job management in an HPC environment includes determining an unallocated subset from a plurality of HPC nodes, with each of the unallocated HPC nodes comprising an integrated fabric. An HPC job is selected from a job queue and executed using at least a portion of the unallocated subset of nodes.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/947,637, filed Jul. 22, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/712,423, filed Dec. 12, 2012, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/825,021, filed Apr.15, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,366,040, the disclosures of which areincorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to the field of data processing and,more specifically, to a system and method for topology-aware jobscheduling and backfilling in an HPC environment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

High Performance Computing (HPC) is often characterized by the computingsystems used by scientists and engineers for modeling, simulating, andanalyzing complex physical or algorithmic phenomena. Currently, HPCmachines are typically designed using numerous HPC clusters of one ormore processors referred to as nodes. For most large scientific andengineering applications, performance is chiefly determined by parallelscalability and not the speed of individual nodes; therefore,scalability is often a limiting factor in building or purchasing suchhigh performance clusters. Scalability is generally considered to bebased on i) hardware, ii) memory, I/O, and communication bandwidth; iii)software; iv) architecture; and v) applications. The processing, memory,and I/O bandwidth in most conventional HPC environments are normally notwell balanced and, therefore, do not scale well. Many HPC environmentsdo not have the I/O bandwidth to satisfy high-end data processingrequirements or are built with blades that have too many unneededcomponents installed, which tend to dramatically reduce the system'sreliability. Accordingly, many HPC environments may not provide robustcluster management software for efficient operation inproduction-oriented environments.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure provides a system and method for job management in anHPC environment that includes determining an unallocated subset from aplurality of HPC nodes, with each of the unallocated HPC nodescomprising an integrated fabric. An HPC job is selected from a job queueand executed using at least a portion of the unallocated subset ofnodes.

The invention has several important technical advantages. For example,one possible advantage of the present invention is that by at leastpartially reducing, distributing, or eliminating centralized switchingfunctionality, it may provide greater input/output (I/O) performance,perhaps four to eight times the conventional HPC bandwidth. Indeed, incertain embodiments, the I/O performance may nearly equal processorperformance. This well-balanced approach may be less sensitive tocommunications overhead. Accordingly, the present invention may increaseblade and overall system performance. A further possible advantage isreduced interconnect latency. Further, the present invention may be moreeasily scaleable, reliable, and fault tolerant than conventional blades.Yet another advantage may be a reduction of the costs involved inmanufacturing an HPC server, which may be passed on to universities andengineering labs, and/or the costs involved in performing HPCprocessing. The invention may further allow for management software thatis more robust and efficient based, at least in part, on the balancedarchitecture. Various embodiments of the invention may have none, some,or all of these advantages. Other technical advantages of the presentinvention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and itsadvantages, reference is now made to the following descriptions, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example high-performance computing system inaccordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIGS. 2A-D illustrate various embodiments of the grid in the system ofFIG. 1 and the usage thereof;

FIGS. 3A-C illustrate various embodiments of individual nodes in thesystem of FIGS. 1;

FIGS. 4A-B illustrate various embodiments of a graphical user interfacein accordance with the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of the cluster management software inaccordance with the system in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for submitting a batch jobin accordance with the high-performance computing system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for dynamic backfilling ofthe grid in accordance with the high-performance computing system ofFIG. 1; and

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a method for dynamically managing anode failure in accordance with the high-performance computing system ofFIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a high Performance Computing(HPC) system 100 for executing software applications and processes, forexample an atmospheric, weather, or crash simulation, using HPCtechniques. System 100 provides users with HPC functionality dynamicallyallocated among various computing nodes 115 with I/O performancesubstantially similar to the processing performance. Generally, thesenodes 115 are easily scaleable because of, among other things, thisincreased input/output (I/O) performance and reduced fabric latency. Forexample, the scalability of nodes 115 in a distributed architecture maybe represented by a derivative of Amdahl's law:S(N)=1/((FP/N)+FS)*(1−Fc*(1−RR/L))

where S(N)=Speedup on N processors, Fp=Fraction of Parallel Code,Fs=Fraction of Non-Parallel Code, Fc=Fraction of processing devoted tocommunications, and RR/L=Ratio of Remote/Local Memory Bandwidth.Therefore, by HPC system 100 providing I/O performance substantiallyequal to or nearing processing performance, HPC system 100 increasesoverall efficiency of HPC applications and allows for easier systemadministration.

HPC system 100 is a distributed client/server system that allows users(such as scientists and engineers) to submit jobs 150 for processing onan HPC server 102. For example, system 100 may include HPC server 102that is connected, through network 106, to one or more administrationworkstations or local clients 120. But system 100 may be a standalonecomputing environment or any other suitable environment. In short,system 100 is any HPC computing environment that includes highlyscaleable nodes 115 and allows the user to submit jobs 150, dynamicallyallocates scaleable nodes 115 for job 150, and automatically executesjob 150 using the allocated nodes 115. Job 150 may be any batch oronline job operable to be processed using HPC techniques and submittedby any apt user. For example, job 150 may be a request for a simulation,a model, or for any other high-performance requirement. Job 150 may alsobe a request to run a data center application, such as a clustereddatabase, an online transaction processing system, or a clusteredapplication server. The term “dynamically,” as used herein, generallymeans that certain processing is determined, at least in part, atrun-time based on one or more variables. The term “automatically,” asused herein, generally means that the appropriate processing issubstantially performed by at least part of HPC system 100. It should beunderstood that “automatically” further contemplates any suitable useror administrator interaction with system 100 without departing from thescope of this disclosure.

HPC server 102 comprises any local or remote computer operable toprocess job 150 using a plurality of balanced nodes 115 and clustermanagement engine 130. Generally, HPC server 102 comprises a distributedcomputer such as a blade server or other distributed server. However theconfiguration, server 102 includes a plurality of nodes 115. Nodes 115comprise any computer or processing device such as, for example, blades,general-purpose personal computers (PC), Macintoshes, workstations,Unix-based computers, or any other suitable devices. Generally, FIG. 1provides merely one example of computers that may be used with thedisclosure. For example, although FIG. 1 illustrates one server 102 thatmay be used with the disclosure, system 100 can be implemented usingcomputers other than servers, as well as a server pool. In other words,the present disclosure contemplates computers other than general purposecomputers as well as computers without conventional operating systems.As used in this document, the term “computer” is intended to encompass apersonal computer, workstation, network computer, or any other suitableprocessing device. HPC server 102, or the component nodes 115, may beadapted to execute any operating system including Linux, UNIX, WindowsServer, or any other suitable operating system. According to oneembodiment, HPC server 102 may also include or be communicably coupledwith a remote web server. Therefore, server 102 may comprise anycomputer with software and/or hardware in any combination suitable todynamically allocate nodes 115 to process HPC job 150.

At a high level, HPC server 102 includes a management node 105, a grid110 comprising a plurality of nodes 115, and cluster management engine130. More specifically, server 102 may be a standard 19″ rack includinga plurality of blades (nodes 115) with some or all of the followingcomponents: i) dual-processors; ii) large, high bandwidth memory; iii)dual host channel adapters (HCAs); iv) integrated fabric switching; v)FPGA support; and vi) redundant power inputs or N+1 power supplies.These various components allow for failures to be confined to the nodelevel. But it will be understood that HPC server 102 and nodes 115 maynot include all of these components.

Management node 105 comprises at least one blade substantially dedicatedto managing or assisting an administrator. For example, management node105 may comprise two blades, with one of the two blades being redundant(such as an active/passive configuration). In one embodiment, managementnode 105 may be the same type of blade or computing device as HPC nodes115. But, management node 105 may be any node, including any number ofcircuits and configured in any suitable fashion, so long as it remainsoperable to at least partially manage grid 110. Often, management node105 is physically or logically separated from the plurality of HPC nodes115, jointly represented in grid 110. In the illustrated embodiment,management node 105 may be communicably coupled to grid 110 via link108. Link 108 may comprise any communication conduit implementing anyappropriate communications protocol. In one embodiment, link 108provides Gigabit or 10 Gigabit Ethernet communications betweenmanagement node 105 and grid 110.

Grid 110 is a group of nodes 115 interconnected for increased processingpower. Typically, grid 110 is a 3D Torus, but it may be a mesh, ahypercube, or any other shape or configuration without departing fromthe scope of this disclosure. The links between nodes 115 in grid 110may be serial or parallel analog links, digital links, or any other typeof link that can convey electrical or electromagnetic signals such as,for example, fiber or copper. Each node 115 is configured with anintegrated switch. This allows node 115 to more easily be the basicconstruct for the 3D Torus and helps minimize XYZ distances betweenother nodes 115. Further, this may make copper wiring work in largersystems at up to Gigabit rates with, in some embodiments, the longestcable being less than 5 meters. In short, node 115 is generallyoptimized for nearest-neighbor communications and increased I/Obandwidth.

Each node 115 may include a cluster agent 132 communicably coupled withcluster management engine 130. Generally, agent 132 receives requests orcommands from management node 105 and/or cluster management engine 130.Agent 132 could include any hardware, software, firmware, or combinationthereof operable to determine the physical status of node 115 andcommunicate the processed data, such as through a “heartbeat,” tomanagement node 105. In another embodiment, management node 105 mayperiodically poll agent 132 to determine the status of the associatednode 115. Agent 132 may be written in any appropriate computer languagesuch as, for example, C, C++, Assembler, Java, Visual Basic, and othersor any combination thereof so long as it remains compatible with atleast a portion of cluster management engine 130.

Cluster management engine 130 could include any hardware, software,firmware, or combination thereof operable to dynamically allocate andmanage nodes 115 and execute job 150 using nodes 115. For example,cluster management engine 130 may be written or described in anyappropriate computer language including C, C++, Java, Visual Basic,assembler, any suitable version of 4GL, and others or any combinationthereof. It will be understood that while cluster management engine 130is illustrated in FIG. 1 as a single multi-tasked module, the featuresand functionality performed by this engine may be performed by multiplemodules such as, for example, a physical layer module, a virtual layermodule, a job scheduler, and a presentation engine (as shown in moredetail in FIG. 5). Further, while illustrated as external to managementnode 105, management node 105 typically executes one or more processesassociated with cluster management engine 130 and may store clustermanagement engine 130. Moreover, cluster management engine 130 may be achild or sub-module of another software module without departing fromthe scope of this disclosure. Therefore, cluster management engine 130comprises one or more software modules operable to intelligently managenodes 115 and jobs 150.

Server 102 may include interface 104 for communicating with othercomputer systems, such as client 120, over network 106 in aclient-server or other distributed environment. In certain embodiments,server 102 receives jobs 150 or job policies from network 106 forstorage in disk farm 140. Disk farm 140 may also be attached directly tothe computational array using the same wideband interfaces thatinterconnects the nodes. Generally, interface 104 comprises logicencoded in software and/or hardware in a suitable combination andoperable to communicate with network 106. More specifically, interface104 may comprise software supporting one or more communicationsprotocols associated with communications network 106 or hardwareoperable to communicate physical signals.

Network 106 facilitates wireless or wireline communication betweencomputer server 102 and any other computer, such as clients 120. Indeed,while illustrated as residing between server 102 and client 120, network106 may also reside between various nodes 115 without departing from thescope of the disclosure. In other words, network 106 encompasses anynetwork, networks, or sub-network operable to facilitate communicationsbetween various computing components. Network 106 may communicate, forexample, Internet Protocol (IP) packets, Frame Relay frames,Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) cells, voice, video, data, and othersuitable information between network addresses. Network 106 may includeone or more local area networks (LANs), radio access networks (RANs),metropolitan area networks (MANs), wide area networks (WANs), all or aportion of the global computer network known as the Internet, and/or anyother communication system or systems at one or more locations.

In general, disk farm 140 is any memory, database or storage areanetwork (SAN) for storing jobs 150, profiles, boot images, or other HPCinformation. According to the illustrated embodiment, disk farm 140includes one or more storage clients 142. Disk farm 140 may process androute data packets according to any of a number of communicationprotocols, for example, InfiniBand (IB), Gigabit Ethernet (GE), orFibreChannel (FC). Data packets are typically used to transport datawithin disk farm 140. A data packet may include a header that has asource identifier and a destination identifier. The source identifier,for example, a source address, identifies the transmitter ofinformation, and the destination identifier, for example, a destinationaddress, identifies the recipient of the information.

Client 120 is any device operable to present the user with a jobsubmission screen or administration via a graphical user interface (GUI)126. At a high level, illustrated client 120 includes at least GUI 126and comprises an electronic computing device operable to receive,transmit, process and store any appropriate data associated with system100. It will be understood that there may be any number of clients 120communicably coupled to server 102. Further, “client 120” and “user ofclient 120” may be used interchangeably as appropriate without departingfrom the scope of this disclosure. Moreover, for ease of illustration,each client is described in terms of being used by one user. But thisdisclosure contemplates that many users may use one computer tocommunicate jobs 150 using the same GUI 126.

As used in this disclosure, client 120 is intended to encompass apersonal computer, touch screen terminal, workstation, network computer,kiosk, wireless data port, cell phone, personal data assistant (PDA),one or more processors within these or other devices, or any othersuitable processing device. For example, client 120 may comprise acomputer that includes an input device, such as a keypad, touch screen,mouse, or other device that can accept information, and an output devicethat conveys information associated with the operation of server 102 orclients 120, including digital data, visual information, or GUI 126.Both the input device and output device may include fixed or removablestorage media such as a magnetic computer disk, CD-ROM, or othersuitable media to both receive input from and provide output to users ofclients 120 through the administration and job submission display,namely GUI 126.

GUI 126 comprises a graphical user interface operable to allow i) theuser of client 120 to interface with system 100 to submit one or morejobs 150; and/or ii) the system (or network) administrator using client120 to interface with system 100 for any suitable supervisory purpose.Generally, GUI 126 provides the user of client 120 with an efficient anduser-friendly presentation of data provided by HPC system 100. GUI 126may comprise a plurality of customizable frames or views havinginteractive fields, pull-down lists, and buttons operated by the user.In one embodiment, GUI 126 presents a job submission display thatpresents the various job parameter fields and receives commands from theuser of client 120 via one of the input devices. GUI 126 may,alternatively or in combination, present the physical and logical statusof nodes 115 to the system administrator, as illustrated in FIGS. 4A-B,and receive various commands from the administrator. Administratorcommands may include marking nodes as (un)available, shutting down nodesfor maintenance, rebooting nodes, or any other suitable command.Moreover, it should be understood that the term graphical user interfacemay be used in the singular or in the plural to describe one or moregraphical user interfaces and each of the displays of a particulargraphical user interface. Therefore, GUI 126 contemplates any graphicaluser interface, such as a generic web browser, that processesinformation in system 100 and efficiently presents the results to theuser. Server 102 can accept data from client 120 via the web browser(e.g., Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator) and return theappropriate HTML or XML responses using network 106.

In one aspect of operation, HPC server 102 is first initialized orbooted. During this process, cluster management engine 130 determinesthe existence, state, location, and/or other characteristics of nodes115 in grid 110. As described above, this may be based on a “heartbeat”communicated upon each node's initialization or upon near immediatepolling by management node 105. Next, cluster management engine 130 maydynamically allocate various portions of grid 110 to one or more virtualclusters 220 based on, for example, predetermined policies. In oneembodiment, cluster management engine 130 continuously monitors nodes115 for possible failure and, upon determining that one of the nodes 115failed, effectively managing the failure using any of a variety ofrecovery techniques. Cluster management engine 130 may also manage andprovide a unique execution environment for each allocated node ofvirtual cluster 220. The execution environment may consist of thehostname, IP address, operating system, configured services, local andshared file systems, and a set of installed applications and data. Thecluster management engine 130 may dynamically add or subtract nodes fromvirtual cluster 220 according to associated policies and according tointer-cluster policies, such as priority.

When a user logs on to client 120, he may be presented with a jobsubmission screen via GUI 126. Once the user has entered the jobparameters and submitted job 150, cluster management engine 130processes the job submission, the related parameters, and anypredetermined policies associated with job 150, the user, or the usergroup. Cluster management engine 130 then determines the appropriatevirtual cluster 220 based, at least in part, on this information. Engine130 then dynamically allocates a job space 230 within virtual cluster220 and executes job 150 across the allocated nodes 115 using HPCtechniques. Based, at least in part, on the increased I/O performance,HPC server 102 may more quickly complete processing of job 150. Uponcompletion, cluster management engine communicates results 160 to theuser.

FIGS. 2A-D illustrate various embodiments of grid 210 in system 100 andthe usage or topology thereof. FIG. 2A illustrates one configuration,namely a 3D Torus, of grid 210 using a plurality of node types. Forexample, the illustrated node types are external I/O node, FS server, FSmetadata server, database server, and compute node. FIG. 2B illustratesan example of “folding” of grid 210. Folding generally allows for onephysical edge of grid 215 to connect to a corresponding axial edge,thereby providing a more robust or edgeless topology. In thisembodiment, nodes 215 are wrapped around to provide a near seamlesstopology connect by node link 216. Node line 216 may be any suitablehardware implementing any communications protocol for interconnectingtwo or more nodes 215. For example, node line 216 may be copper wire orfiber optic cable implementing Gigabit Ethernet.

FIG. 2C illustrates grid 210 with one virtual cluster 220 allocatedwithin it. While illustrated with only one virtual cluster 220, theremay be any number (including zero) of virtual clusters 220 in grid 210without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Virtual cluster 220is a logical grouping of nodes 215 for processing related jobs 150. Forexample, virtual cluster 220 may be associated with one research group,a department, a lab, or any other group of users likely to submitsimilar jobs 150. Virtual cluster 220 may be any shape and include anynumber of nodes 215 within grid 210. Indeed, while illustrated virtualcluster 220 includes a plurality of physically neighboring nodes 215,cluster 220 may be a distributed cluster of logically related nodes 215operable to process job 150.

Virtual cluster 220 may be allocated at any appropriate time. Forexample, cluster 220 may be allocated upon initialization of system 100based, for example, on startup parameters or may be dynamicallyallocated based, for example, on changed server 102 needs. Moreover,virtual cluster 220 may change its shape and size over time to quicklyrespond to changing requests, demands, and situations. For example;virtual cluster 220 may be dynamically changed to include anautomatically allocated first node 215 in response to a failure of asecond node 215, previously part of cluster 220. In certain embodiments,clusters 220 may share nodes 215 as processing requires.

FIG. 2D illustrates various job spaces, 230 a and 230 b respectively,allocated within example virtual cluster 220. Generally, job space 230is a set of nodes 215 within virtual cluster 220 dynamically allocatedto complete received job 150. Typically, there is one job space 230 perexecuting job 150 and vice versa, but job spaces 230 may share nodes 215without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The dimensions ofjob space 230 may be manually input by the user or administrator ordynamically determined based on job parameters, policies, and/or anyother suitable characteristic.

FIGS. 3A-C illustrate various embodiments of individual nodes 115 ingrid 110. In the illustrated, but example, embodiments, nodes 115 arerepresented by blades 315. Blade 315 comprises any computing device inany orientation operable to process all or a portion, such as a threador process, of job 150. For example, blade 315 may be a standard Xeon64™motherboard, a standard PCI-Express Opteron™ motherboard, or any othersuitable computing card.

Blade 315 is an integrated fabric architecture that distributes thefabric switching components uniformly across nodes 115 in grid 110,thereby possibly reducing or eliminating any centralized switchingfunction, increasing the fault tolerance, and allowing message passingin parallel. More specifically, blade 315 includes an integrated switch345. Switch 345 includes any number of ports that may allow fordifferent topologies. For example, switch 345 may be an eight-portswitch that enables a tighter three-dimensional mesh or 3D Torustopology. These eight ports include two “X” connections for linking toneighbor nodes 115 along an X-axis, two “Y” connections for linking toneighbor nodes 115 along a Y-axis, two “Z” connections for linking toneighbor nodes 115 along a Z-axis, and two connections for linking tomanagement node 105. In one embodiment, switch 345 may be a standardeight port Infiniband-4 x switch IC, thereby easily providing built-infabric switching. Switch 345 may also comprise a twenty-four port switchthat allows for multidimensional topologies, such a 4-D Torus, or othernon-traditional topologies of greater than three dimensions. Moreover,nodes 115 may further interconnected along a diagonal axis, therebyreducing jumps or hops of communications between relatively distantnodes 115. For example, a first node 115 may be connected with a secondnode 115 that physically resides along a northeasterly axis severalthree dimensional “jumps” away.

FIG. 3A illustrates a blade 315 that, at a high level, includes at leasttwo processors 320 a and 320 b, local or remote memory 340, andintegrated switch (or fabric) 345. Processor 320 executes instructionsand manipulates data to perform the operations of blade 315 such as, forexample, a central processing unit (CPU). Reference to processor 320 ismeant to include multiple processors 320 where applicable. In oneembodiment, processor 320 may comprise a Xeon64 or Itanium™ processor orother similar processor or derivative thereof. For example, the Xeon64processor may be a 3.4 GHz chip with a 2 MB Cache and HyperTreading. Inthis embodiment, the dual processor module may include a nativePCI/Express that improves efficiency. Accordingly, processor 320 hasefficient memory bandwidth and, typically, has the memory controllerbuilt into the processor chip.

Blade 315 may also include Northbridge 321, Southbridge 322, PCI channel325, HCA 335, and memory 340. Northbridge 321 communicates withprocessor 320 and controls communications with memory 340, a PCI bus,Level 2 cache, and any other related components. In one embodiment,Northbridge 321 communicates with processor 320 using the frontside bus(FSB). Southbridge 322 manages many of the input/output (I/O) functionsof blade 315. In another embodiment, blade 315 may implement the IntelHub Architecture (IHA™), which includes a Graphics and AGP MemoryController Hub (GMCH) and an I/O Controller Hub (ICH).

PCI channel 325 comprises any high-speed, low latency link designed toincrease the communication speed between integrated components. Thishelps reduce the number of buses in blade 315, which can reduce systembottlenecks. HCA 335 comprises any component providing channel-based I/Owithin server 102. Each HCA 335 may provide a total bandwidth of 2.65GB/sec, thereby allowing 1.85 GB/sec per PE to switch 345 and 800 MB/secper PE to I/O such as, for example, BIOS (Basic Input/Output System), anEthernet management interface, and others. This further allows the totalswitch 345 bandwidth to be 3.7 GB/sec for 13.6 Gigaflops/sec peak or0.27 Bytes/Flop I/O rate is 50 MB/sec per Gigaflop.

Memory 340 includes any memory or database module and may take the formof volatile or non-volatile memory including, without limitation,magnetic media, optical media, flash memory, random access memory (RAM),read-only memory (ROM), removable media, or any other suitable local orremote memory component. In the illustrated embodiment, memory 340 iscomprised of 8 GB of dual double data rate (DDR) memory componentsoperating at least 6.4 GB/s. Memory 340 may include any appropriate datafor managing or executing HPC jobs 150 without departing from thisdisclosure.

FIG. 3B illustrates a blade 315 that includes two processors 320 a and320 b, memory 340, HyperTransport/peripheral component interconnect(HT/PCI) bridges 330 a and 330 b, and two HCAs 335 a and 335 b.

Example blade 315 includes at least two processors 320. Processor 320executes instructions and manipulates data to perform the operations ofblade 315 such as, for example, a central processing unit (CPU). In theillustrated embodiment, processor 320 may comprise an Opteron processoror other similar processor or derivative. In this embodiment, theOpteron processor design supports the development of a well balancedbuilding block for grid 110. Regardless, the dual processor module mayprovide four to five Gigaflop usable performance and the next generationtechnology helps solve memory bandwidth limitation. But blade 315 maymore than two processors 320 without departing from the scope of thisdisclosure. Accordingly, processor 320 has efficient memory bandwidthand, typically, has the memory controller built into the processor chip.In this embodiment, each processor 320 has one or more HyperTransport™(or other similar conduit type) links 325.

Generally, HT link 325 comprises any high-speed, low latency linkdesigned to increase the communication speed between integratedcomponents. This helps reduce the number of buses in blade 315, whichcan reduce system bottlenecks. HT link 325 supports processor toprocessor communications for cache coherent multiprocessor blades 315.Using HT links 325, up to eight processors 320 may be placed on blade315. If utilized, HyperTransport may provide bandwidth of 6.4 GB/sec,12.8, or more, thereby providing a better than forty-fold increase indata throughput over legacy PCI buses. Further HyperTransport technologymay be compatible with legacy I/O standards, such as PCI, and othertechnologies, such as PCI-X.

Blade 315 further includes HT/PCI bridge 330 and HCA 335. PCI bridge 330may be designed in compliance with PCI Local Bus Specification Revision2.2 or 3.0 or PCI Express Base Specification 1.0a or any derivativesthereof. HCA 335 comprises any component providing channel-based I/Owithin server 102. In one embodiment, HCA 335 comprises an InfinibandHCA. InfiniBand channels are typically created by attaching host channeladapters and target channel adapters, which enable remote storage andnetwork connectivity into an InfiniBand fabric, illustrated in moredetail in FIG. 3B. Hypertransport 325 to PCI-Express Bridge 330 and HCA335 may create a full-duplex 2 GB/sec I/O channel for each processor320. In certain embodiments, this provides sufficient bandwidth tosupport processor-processor communications in distributed HPCenvironment 100. Further, this provides blade 315 with I/O performancenearly or substantially balanced with the performance of processors 320.

FIG. 3C illustrates another embodiment of blade 315 including a daughterboard. In this embodiment, the daughter board may support 3.2 GB/sec orhigher cache coherent interfaces. The daughter board is operable toinclude one or more Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) 350. Forexample, the illustrated daughter board includes two FPGAs 350,represented by 350 a and 350 b, respectively. Generally, FPGA 350provides blade 315 with non-standard interfaces, the ability to processcustom algorithms, vector processors for signal, image, orencryption/decryption processing applications, and high bandwidth. Forexample, FPGA may supplement the ability of blade 315 by providingacceleration factors of ten to twenty times the performance of a generalpurpose processor for special functions such as, for example, lowprecision Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and matrix arithmetic functions.

The preceding illustrations and accompanying descriptions provideexemplary diagrams for implementing various scaleable nodes 115(illustrated as example blades 315). However, these figures are merelyillustrative and system 100 contemplates using any suitable combinationand arrangement of elements for implementing various scalabilityschemes. Although the present invention has been illustrated anddescribed, in part, in regard to blade server 102, those of ordinaryskill in the art will recognize that the teachings of the presentinvention may be applied to any clustered HPC server environment.Accordingly, such clustered servers 102 that incorporate the techniquesdescribed herein may be local or a distributed without departing fromthe scope of this disclosure. Thus, these servers 102 may include HPCmodules (or nodes 115) incorporating any suitable combination andarrangement of elements for providing high performance computing power,while reducing I/O latency. Moreover, the operations of the variousillustrated HPC modules may be combined and/or separated as appropriate.For example, grid 110 may include a plurality of substantially similarnodes 115 or various nodes 115 implementing differing hardware or fabricarchitecture.

FIGS. 4A-B illustrate various embodiments of a management graphical userinterface 400 in accordance with the system 100. Often, management GUI400 is presented to client 120 using GUI 126. In general, management GUI400 presents a variety of management interactive screens or displays toa system administrator and/or a variety of job submission or profilescreens to a user. These screens or displays are comprised of graphicalelements assembled into various views of collected information. Forexample, GUI 400 may present a display of the physical health of grid110 (illustrated in FIG. 4A) or the logical allocation or topology ofnodes 115 in grid 110 (illustrated in FIG. 4B).

FIG. 4A illustrates example display 400 a. Display 400 a may includeinformation presented to the administrator for effectively managingnodes 115. The illustrated embodiment includes a standard web browserwith a logical “picture” or screenshot of grid 110. For example, thispicture may provide the physical status of grid 110 and the componentnodes 115. Each node 115 may be one of any number of colors, with eachcolor representing various states. For example, a failed node 115 may bered, a utilized or allocated node 115 may be black, and an unallocatednode 115 may be shaded. Further, display 400 a may allow theadministrator to move the pointer over one of the nodes 115 and view thevarious physical attributes of it. For example, the administrator may bepresented with information including “node,” “availability,” “processorutilization,” “memory utilization,” “temperature,” “physical location,”and “address.” Of course, these are merely example data fields and anyappropriate physical or logical node information may be display for theadministrator. Display 400 a may also allow the administrator to rotatethe view of grid 110 or perform any other suitable function.

FIG. 4B illustrates example display 400 b. Display 400 b presents a viewor picture of the logical state of grid 100. The illustrated embodimentpresents the virtual cluster 220 allocated within grid 110. Display 400b further displays two example job spaces 230 allocate within cluster220 for executing one or more jobs 150. Display 400 b may allow theadministrator to move the pointer over graphical virtual cluster 220 toview the number of nodes 115 grouped by various statuses (such asallocated or unallocated). Further, the administrator may move thepointer over one of the job spaces 230 such that suitable jobinformation is presented. For example, the administrator may be able toview the job name, start time, number of nodes, estimated end time,processor usage, I/O usage, and others.

It will be understood that management GUI 126 (represented above byexample displays 400 a and 400 b, respectively) is for illustrationpurposes only and may include none, some, or all of the illustratedgraphical elements as well as additional management elements not shown.

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of cluster management engine 130,shown here as engine 500, in accordance with system 100. In thisembodiment, cluster management engine 500 includes a plurality ofsub-modules or components: physical manager 505, virtual manager 510,job scheduler 515, and local memory or variables 520.

Physical manager 505 is any software, logic, firmware, or other moduleoperable to determine the physical health of various nodes 115 andeffectively manage nodes 115 based on this determined health. Physicalmanager may use this data to efficiently determine and respond to node115 failures. In one embodiment, physical manager 505 is communicablycoupled to a plurality of agents 132, each residing on one node 115. Asdescribed above, agents 132 gather and communicate at least physicalinformation to manager 505. Physical manager 505 may be further operableto communicate alerts to a system administrator at client 120 vianetwork 106.

Virtual manager 510 is any software, logic, firmware, or other moduleoperable to manage virtual clusters 220 and the logical state of nodes115. Generally, virtual manager 510 links a logical representation ofnode 115 with the physical status of node 115. Based on these links,virtual manager 510 may generate virtual clusters 220 and processvarious changes to these clusters 220, such as in response to nodefailure or a (system or user) request for increased HPC processing.Virtual manager 510 may also communicate the status of virtual cluster220, such as unallocated nodes 115, to job scheduler 515 to enabledynamic backfilling of unexecuted, or queued, HPC processes and jobs150. Virtual manager 510 may further determine the compatibility of job150 with particular nodes 115 and communicate this information to jobscheduler 515. In certain embodiments, virtual manager 510 may be anobject representing an individual virtual cluster 220.

Cluster management engine 500 may also include job scheduler 515. Jobscheduler sub-module 515 is a topology-aware module that processesaspects of the system's resources, as well with the processors and thetime allocations, to determine an optimum job space 230 and time.Factors that are often considered include processors, processes, memory,interconnects, disks, visualization engines, and others. In other words,job scheduler 515 typically interacts with GUI 126 to receive jobs 150,physical manager 505 to ensure the health of various nodes 115, andvirtual manager 510 to dynamically allocate job space 230 within acertain virtual cluster 220. This dynamic allocation is accomplishedthrough various algorithms that often incorporates knowledge of thecurrent topology of grid 110 and, when appropriate, virtual cluster 220.Job scheduler 515 handles both batch and interactive execution of bothserial and parallel programs. Scheduler 515 should also provide a way toimplement policies 524 on selecting and executing various problemspresented by job 150.

Cluster management engine 500, such as through job scheduler 515, may befurther operable to perform efficient check-pointing. Restart dumpstypically comprise over seventy-five percent of data written to disk.This I/O is often done so that processing is not lost to a platformfailure. Based on this, a file system's I/O can be segregated into twoportions: productive I/O and defensive I/O. Productive I/O is thewriting of data that the user calls for to do science such as, forexample, visualization dumps, traces of key physics variables over time,and others. Defensive I/O is performed to manage a large simulation runover a substantial period of time. Accordingly, increased I/O bandwidthgreatly reduces the time and risk involved in check-pointing.

Returning to engine 500, local memory 520 comprises logical descriptions(or data structures) of a plurality of features of system 100. Localmemory 520 may be stored in any physical or logical data storageoperable to be defined, processed, or retrieved by compatible code. Forexample, local memory 520 may comprise one or more extensible MarkupLanguage (XML) tables or documents. The various elements may bedescribed in terms of SQL statements or scripts, Virtual Storage AccessMethod (VSAM) files, flat files, binary data files, Btrieve files,database files, or comma-separated-value (CSV) files. It will beunderstood that each element may comprise a variable, table, or anyother suitable data structure. Local memory 520 may also comprise aplurality of tables or files stored on one server 102 or across aplurality of servers or nodes. Moreover, while illustrated as residinginside engine 500, some or all of local memory 520 may be internal orexternal without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

Illustrated local memory 520 includes physical list 521, virtual list522, group file 523, policy table 524, and job queue 525. But, while notillustrated, local memory 520 may include other data structures,including a job table and audit log, without departing from the scope ofthis disclosure. Returning to the illustrated structures, physical list521 is operable to store identifying and physical management informationabout node 115. Physical list 521 may be a multi-dimensional datastructure that includes at least one record per node 115. For example,the physical record may include fields such as “node,” “availability,”“processor utilization,” “memory utilization,” “temperature,” “physicallocation,” “address,” “boot images,” and others. It will be understoodthat each record may include none, some, or all of the example fields.In one embodiment, the physical record may provide a foreign key toanother table, such as, for example, virtual list 522.

Virtual list 522 is operable to store logical or virtual managementinformation about node 115. Virtual list 522 may be a multi-dimensionaldata structure that includes at least one record per node 115. Forexample, the virtual record may include fields such as “node,”“availability,” “job,” “virtual cluster,” “secondary node,” “logicallocation,” “compatibility,” and others. It will be understood that eachrecord may include none, some, or all of the example fields. In oneembodiment, the virtual record may include a link to another table suchas, for example, group file 523.

Group file 523 comprises one or more tables or records operable to storeuser group and security information, such as access control lists (orACLs). For example, each group record may include a list of availableservices, nodes 115, or jobs for a user. Each logical group may beassociated with a business group or unit, a department, a project, asecurity group, or any other collection of one or more users that areable to submit jobs 150 or administer at least part of system 100. Basedon this information, cluster management engine 500 may determine if theuser submitting job 150 is a valid user and, if so, the optimumparameters for job execution. Further, group table 523 may associateeach user group with a virtual cluster 220 or with one or more physicalnodes 115, such as nodes residing within a particular group's domain.This allows each group to have an individual processing space withoutcompeting for resources. However, as described above, the shape and sizeof virtual cluster 220 may be dynamic and may change according to needs,time, or any other parameter.

Policy table 524 includes one or more policies. It will be understoodthat policy table 524 and policy 524 may be used interchangeably asappropriate. Policy 524 generally stores processing and managementinformation about jobs 150 and/or virtual clusters 220. For example,policies 524 may include any number of parameters or variables includingproblem size, problem run time, timeslots, preemption, users' allocatedshare of node 115 or virtual cluster 220, and such.

Job queue 525 represents one or more streams of jobs 150 awaitingexecution. Generally, queue 525 comprises any suitable data structure,such as a bubble array, database table, or pointer array, for storingany number (including zero) of jobs 150 or reference thereto. There maybe one queue 525 associated with grid 110 or a plurality of queues 525,with each queue 525 associated with one of the unique virtual clusters220 within grid 110.

In one aspect of operation, cluster management engine 500 receives job150, made up of N tasks which cooperatively solve a problem byperforming calculations and exchanging information. Cluster managementengine 500 allocates N nodes 115 and assigns each of the N tasks to oneparticular node 515 using any suitable technique, thereby allowing theproblem to be solved efficiently. For example, cluster management engine500 may utilize job parameters, such as job task placement strategy,supplied by the user. Regardless, cluster management engine 500 attemptsto exploit the architecture of server 102, which in turn provides thequicker turnaround for the user and likely improves the overallthroughput for system 100.

In one embodiment, cluster management engine 500 then selects andallocates nodes 115 according to any of the following exampletopologies:

Specified 2D (x,y) or 3D (x,y,z)—Nodes 115 are allocated and tasks maybe ordered in the specified dimensions, thereby preserving efficientneighbor to neighbor communication. The specified topology manages avariety of jobs 150 where it is desirable that the physicalcommunication topology match the problem topology allowing thecooperating tasks of job 150 to communicate frequently with neighbortasks. For example, a request of 8 tasks in a 2.times.2.times.2dimension (2, 2, 2) will be allocated in a cube. For best-fit purposes,2D allocations can be “folded” into 3 dimensions (as discussed in FIG.2D), while preserving efficient neighbor to neighbor communications.Cluster management engine 500 may be free to allocate the specifieddimensional shape in any orientation. For example, a 2.times.2.times.8box may be allocated within the available physical nodes vertically orhorizontally

Best Fit Cube—cluster management engine 500 allocates N nodes 115 in acubic volume. This topology efficiently handles jobs 150 allowingcooperating tasks to exchange data with any other tasks by minimizingthe distance between any two nodes 115.

Best Fit Sphere—cluster management engine 500 allocates N nodes 115 in aspherical volume. For example, the first task may be placed in thecenter node 115 of the sphere with the rest of the tasks placed on nodes115 surrounding the center node 115. It will be understood that theplacement order of the remaining tasks is not typically critical. Thistopology may minimize the distance between the first task and all othertasks. This efficiently handles a large class of problems where tasks2-N communicate with the first task, but not with each other.

Random—cluster management engine 500 allocates N nodes 115 with reducedconsideration for where nodes 115 are logically or physically located.In one embodiment, this topology encourages aggressive use of grid 110for backfilling purposes, with little impact to other jobs 150.

It will be understood that the prior topologies and accompanyingdescription are for illustration purposes only and may not depict actualtopologies used or techniques for allocating such topologies.

Cluster management engine 500 may utilize a placement weight, stored asa job 150 parameter or policy 524 parameter. In one embodiment, theplacement weight is a modifier value between 0 and 1, which representshow aggressively cluster management engine 500 should attempt to placenodes 115 according to the requested task (or process) placementstrategy. In this example, a value of 0 represents placing nodes 115only if the optimum strategy (or dimensions) is possible and a value of1 represents placing nodes 115 immediately, as long as there are enoughfree or otherwise available nodes 115 to handle the request. Typically,the placement weight does not override administrative policies 524 suchas resource reservation, in order to prevent starvation of large jobs150 and preserve the job throughput of HPC system 100.

The preceding illustration and accompanying description provide anexemplary modular diagram for engine 500 implementing logical schemesfor managing nodes 115 and jobs 150. However, this figure is merelyillustrative and system 100 contemplates using any suitable combinationand arrangement of logical elements for implementing these and otheralgorithms. Thus, these software modules may include any suitablecombination and arrangement of elements for effectively managing nodes115 and jobs 150. Moreover, the operations of the various illustratedmodules may be combined and/or separated as appropriate.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 600 for dynamicallyprocessing a job submission in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent disclosure. Generally, FIG. 6 describes method 600, whichreceives a batch job submission, dynamically allocates nodes 115 into ajob space 230 based on the job parameters and associated policies 524,and executes job 150 using the allocated space. The followingdescription focuses on the operation of cluster management module 130 inperforming method 600. But system 100 contemplates using any appropriatecombination and arrangement of logical elements implementing some or allof the described functionality, so long as the functionality remainsappropriate.

Method 600 begins at step 605, where HPC server 102 receives jobsubmission 150 from a user. As described above, in one embodiment theuser may submit job 150 using client 120. In another embodiment, theuser may submit job 150 directly using HPC server 102. Next, at step610, cluster management engine 130 selects group 523 based upon theuser. Once the user is verified, cluster management engine 130 comparesthe user to the group access control list (ACL) at step 615. But it willbe understood that cluster management engine 130 may use any appropriatesecurity technique to verify the user. Based upon determined group 523,cluster management engine 130 determines if the user has access to therequested service. Based on the requested service and hostname, clustermanagement engine 130 selects virtual cluster 220 at step 620.Typically, virtual cluster 220 may be identified and allocated prior tothe submission of job 150. But, in the event virtual cluster 220 has notbeen established, cluster management engine 130 may automaticallyallocate virtual cluster 220 using any of the techniques describedabove. Next, at step 625, cluster management engine 130 retrieves policy524 based on the submission of job 150. In one embodiment, clustermanagement engine 130 may determine the appropriate policy 524associated with the user, job 150, or any other appropriate criteria.Cluster management engine 130 then determines or otherwise calculatesthe dimensions of job 150 at step 630. It will be understood that theappropriate dimensions may include length, width, height, or any otherappropriate parameter or characteristic. As described above, thesedimensions are used to determine the appropriate job space 230 (orsubset of nodes 115) within virtual cluster 220. After the initialparameters have been established, cluster management 130 attempts toexecute job 150 on HPC server 102 in steps 635 through 665.

At decisional step 635, cluster management engine 130 determines ifthere are enough available nodes to allocate the desired job space 230,using the parameters already established. If there are not enough nodes115, then cluster management engine 130 determines the earliestavailable subset 230 of nodes 115 in virtual cluster 220 at step 640.Then, cluster management engine 130 adds job 150 to job queue 125 untilthe subset 230 is available at step 645. Processing then returns todecisional step 635. Once there are enough nodes 115 available, thencluster management engine 130 dynamically determines the optimum subset230 from available nodes 115 at step 650. It will be understood that theoptimum subset 230 may be determined using any appropriate criteria,including fastest processing time, most reliable nodes 115, physical orvirtual locations, or first available nodes 115. At step 655, clustermanagement engine 130 selects the determined subset 230 from theselected virtual cluster 220. Next, at step 660, cluster managementengine 130 allocates the selected nodes 115 for job 150 using theselected subset 230. According to one embodiment, cluster managementengine 130 may change the status of nodes 115 in virtual node list 522from “unallocated” to “allocated”. Once subset 230 has beenappropriately allocated, cluster management engine 130 executes job 150at step 665 using the allocated space based on the job parameters,retrieved policy 524, and any other suitable parameters. At anyappropriate time, cluster management engine 130 may communicate orotherwise present job results 160 to the user. For example, results 160may be formatted and presented to the user via GUI 126.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 700 for dynamicallybackfilling a virtual cluster 220 in grid 110 in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure. At a high level, method 700describes determining available space in virtual cluster 220,determining the optimum job 150 that is compatible with the space, andexecuting the determined job 150 in the available space. The followingdescription will focus on the operation of cluster management module 130in performing this method. But, as with the previous flowchart, system100 contemplates using any appropriate combination and arrangement oflogical elements implementing some or all of the describedfunctionality.

Method 700 begins at step 705, where cluster management engine 130 sortsjob queue 525. In the illustrated embodiment, cluster management engine130 sorts the queue 525 based on the priority of jobs 150 stored in thequeue 525. But it will be understood that cluster management engine 130may sort queue 525 using any suitable characteristic such that theappropriate or optimal job 150 will be executed. Next, at step 710,cluster management engine 130 determines the number of available nodes115 in one of the virtual clusters 220. Of course, cluster managementengine 130 may also determine the number of available nodes 115 in grid110 or in any one or more of virtual clusters 220. At step 715, clustermanagement engine 130 selects first job 150 from sorted job queue 525.Next, cluster management engine 130 dynamically determines the optimumshape (or other dimensions) of selected job 150 at 720. Once the optimumshape or dimension of selected job 150 is determined, then clustermanagement engine 130 determines if it can backfill job 150 in theappropriate virtual cluster 220 in steps 725 through 745.

At decisional step 725, cluster management engine 130 determines ifthere are enough nodes 115 available for the selected job 150. If thereare enough available nodes 115, then at step 730 cluster managementengine 130 dynamically allocates nodes 115 for the selected job 150using any appropriate technique. For example, cluster management engine130 may use the techniques describes in FIG. 6. Next, at step 735,cluster management engine 130 recalculates the number of available nodesin virtual cluster 220. At step 740, cluster management engine 130executes job 150 on allocated nodes 115. Once job 150 has been executed(or if there were not enough nodes 115 for selected job 150), thencluster management engine 130 selects the next job 150 in the sorted jobqueue 525 at step 745 and processing returns to step 720. It will beunderstood that while illustrated as a loop, cluster management engine130 may initiate, execute, and terminate the techniques illustrated inmethod 700 at any appropriate time.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 800 for dynamicallymanaging failure of a node 115 in grid 110 in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure. At a high level, method 800describes determining that node 115 failed, automatically performing jobrecovery and management, and replacing the failed node 115 with asecondary node 115. The following description will focus on theoperation of cluster management module 130 in performing this method.But, as with the previous flowcharts, system 100 contemplates using anyappropriate combination and arrangement of logical elements implementingsome or all of the described functionality.

Method 800 begins at step 805, where cluster management engine 130determines that node 115 has failed. As described above, clustermanagement engine 130 may determine that node 115 has failed using anysuitable technique. For example, cluster management engine 130 may pullnodes 115 (or agents 132) at various times and may determine that node115 has failed based upon the lack of a response from node 115. Inanother example, agent 132 existing on node 115 may communicate a“heartbeat” and the lack of this “heartbeat” may indicate node 115failure. Next, at step 810, cluster management engine 130 removes thefailed node 115 from virtual cluster 220. In one embodiment, clustermanagement engine 130 may change the status of node 115 in virtual list522 from “allocated” to “failed”. Cluster management engine 130 thendetermines if a job 150 is associated with failed node 115 at decisionalstep 815. If there is no job 150 associated with node 115, thenprocessing ends. As described above, before processing ends, clustermanagement engine 130 may communicate an error message to anadministrator, automatically determine a replacement node 115, or anyother suitable processing. If there is a job 150 associated with thefailed node 115, then the cluster management engine 130 determines othernodes 115 associated with the job 150 at step 820. Next, at step 825,cluster management engine 130 kills job 150 on all appropriate nodes115. For example, cluster management engine 130 may execute a kill jobcommand or use any other appropriate technique to end job 150. Next, atstep 830, cluster management engine 130 de-allocates nodes 115 usingvirtual list 522. For example, cluster management engine 130 may changethe status of nodes 115 in virtual list 522 from “allocated” to“available”. Once the job has been terminated and all appropriate nodes115 de-allocated, then cluster management engine 130 attempts tore-execute the job 150 using available nodes 115 in steps 835 through850.

At step 835, cluster management engine 130 retrieves policy 524 andparameters for the killed job 150 at step 835. Cluster management engine130 then determines the optimum subset 230 of nodes 115 in virtualcluster 220, at step 840, based on the retrieved policy 524 and the jobparameters. Once the subset 230 of nodes 115 has been determined, thencluster management engine 130 dynamically allocates the subset 230 ofnodes 115 at step 845. For example, cluster management engine 130 maychange the status of nodes 115 in virtual list 522 from “unallocated” to“allocated”. It will be understood that this subset of nodes 115 may bedifferent from the original subset of nodes that job 150 was executingon. For example, cluster management engine 130 may determine that adifferent subset of nodes is optimal because of the node failure thatprompted this execution. In another example, cluster management engine130 may have determined that a secondary node 115 was operable toreplace the failed node 115 and the new subset 230 is substantiallysimilar to the old job space 230. Once the allocated subset 230 has beendetermined and allocated, then cluster management engine 130 executesjob 150 at step 850.

The preceding flowcharts and accompanying description illustrateexemplary methods 600, 700, and 800. In short, system 100 contemplatesusing any suitable technique for performing these and other tasks.Accordingly, many of the steps in this flowchart may take placesimultaneously and/or in different orders than as shown. Moreover,system 100 may use methods with additional steps, fewer steps, and/ordifferent steps, so long as the methods remain appropriate.

Although this disclosure has been described in terms of certainembodiments and generally associated methods, alterations andpermutations of these embodiments and methods will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. Accordingly, the above description of exampleembodiments does not define or constrain this disclosure. Other changes,substitutions, and alterations are also possible without departing fromthe spirit and scope of this disclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: determining, using oneor more computers, available space in a virtual cluster of a pluralityof communicatively coupled nodes included in a computing environment,the virtual cluster associated with a group of users that submit similarjobs, and comprising a logical grouping of nodes configured to processrelated jobs; determining an optimum job that is compatible with theavailable space in the virtual cluster of nodes by: determining a numberof available nodes in the virtual cluster; selecting a first job from ajob queue; dynamically determining an optimum shape of the first job;determining whether the number of available nodes is enough to executethe first job, based on the optimum shape thereof; and dynamicallyallocating one or more of the available nodes for the first job, in theevent that the determined number of available nodes is enough to executethe first job; wherein the optimum shape comprises one or more of: abest fit cube in which the one or more available nodes are allocated ina cubic volume so as to allow cooperating tasks to exchange data withany other tasks by minimizing the distance between any two nodes; and abest fit sphere in which the one or more available nodes are allocatedin a spherical volume such that a first task is placed in a center nodeof the sphere with remaining tasks placed on nodes surrounding thecenter node so as to minimize the distance between the first task andthe remaining tasks, wherein the remaining tasks communicate with thefirst task, but not with each other; and executing the optimum job inthe available space in the virtual cluster of nodes.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: responsive to dynamically allocating one ormore of the available nodes for the first job, recalculating the numberof available nodes in the virtual cluster; and executing the first jobon the dynamically allocated one or more nodes.
 3. The method of claim2, further comprising: in the event that either the determined number ofavailable nodes is not enough to execute the first job, or followingexecution of the first job, selecting a next job in the job queue andrepeating the dynamically determining an optimum shape of the next job,determining whether the number of available nodes is enough to executethe next job, based on the optimum shape thereof, and dynamicallyallocating one or more of the available nodes for the next job, in theevent that the determined number of available nodes is enough to executethe next job.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the job queue isinitially sorted based on a job priority.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the optimum shape is based job dimensions, including one or moreof length, width and height.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein theplurality of communicatively coupled nodes included in the computingenvironment is arranged in a three dimensional node structure.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein determining an optimum job that is compatiblewith the available space in the virtual cluster of nodes furthercomprises: sorting a job queue based on job priority; determining anoriginal subset of the plurality of communicatively coupled nodes, theoriginal subset comprising nodes currently unallocated to a job;selecting a first job from the job queue based on priority; determiningthat dimensions of the selected job are greater than a topology of theoriginal subset; in response to the dimensions of the first job beinggreater than the topology of the original subset, selecting a second jobfrom the sorted job queue; and executing the selected second job usingone or more processors of one or more nodes of the original subset. 8.The method of claim 7, wherein the dimensions of the first job are basedin part on one or more job parameters and an associated policy.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising dynamically allocating a job spacefrom the original subset based on the dimensions of the job, whereinexecuting the selected job comprises executing the selected job usingthe dynamically allocated job space.
 10. A system comprising: aplurality of communicatively coupled nodes of a computing environment;and a management node configured to: determine available space in avirtual cluster of a plurality of the communicatively coupled nodes, thevirtual cluster associated with a group of users that submit similarjobs, and comprising a logical grouping of nodes configured to processrelated jobs; determine an optimum job that is compatible with theavailable space in the virtual cluster of nodes, the optimum jobdetermined by the management node further configured to: determine anumber of available nodes in the virtual cluster; select a first jobfrom a job queue; dynamically determine an optimum shape of the firstjob; determine whether the number of available nodes is enough toexecute the first job, based on the optimum shape thereof; anddynamically allocate one or more of the available nodes for the firstjob, in the event that the determined number of available nodes isenough to execute the first job, wherein the optimum shape comprises oneor more of: a best fit cube in which the one or more available nodes areallocated in a cubic volume so as to allow cooperating tasks to exchangedata with any other tasks by minimizing the distance between any twonodes; and a best fit sphere in which the one or more available nodesare allocated in a spherical volume such that a first task is placed ina center node of the sphere with remaining tasks placed on nodessurrounding the center node so as to minimize the distance between thefirst task and the remaining tasks, wherein the remaining taskscommunicate with the first task, but not with each other; and executethe optimum job in the available space in the virtual cluster of nodes.11. The system of claim 10, wherein the management node is furtherconfigured to: responsive to dynamically allocating one or more of theavailable nodes for the first job, recalculate the number of availablenodes in the virtual cluster; and execute the first job on thedynamically allocated one or more nodes.
 12. The system of claim 11,wherein the management node is further configured to: in the event thateither the determined number of available nodes is not enough to executethe first job, or following execution of the first job, select a nextjob in the job queue and repeat the dynamically determining an optimumshape of the next job, determine whether the number of available nodesis enough to execute the next job, based on the optimum shape thereof,and dynamically allocate one or more of the available nodes for the nextjob, in the event that the determined number of available nodes isenough to execute the next job.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein thejob queue is initially sorted based on a job priority.
 14. The system ofclaim 10, wherein the optimum shape is based job dimensions, includingone or more of length, width and height.
 15. The system of claim 10,wherein the plurality of communicatively coupled nodes included in thecomputing environment is arranged in a three dimensional node structure.16. The system of claim 10, wherein the management node is furtherconfigured to: sort a job queue based on job priority; determine anoriginal subset of the plurality of communicatively coupled nodes, theoriginal subset comprising nodes currently unallocated to a job; selecta first job from the job queue based on priority; determine thatdimensions of the selected job are greater than a topology of theoriginal subset; in response to the dimensions of the first job beinggreater than the topology of the original subset, selecting a second jobfrom the sorted job queue; and execute the selected second job using oneor more processors of one or more nodes of the original subset.
 17. Thesystem of claim 16, wherein the dimensions of the first job are based inpart on one or more job parameters and an associated policy.
 18. Thesystem of claim 17, wherein the management node is further configured todynamically allocate a job space from the original subset based on thedimensions of the job, wherein executing the selected job comprisesexecuting the selected job using the dynamically allocated job space.19. A non-transitory, computer readable storage medium having computerreadable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer,implement a method, the method comprising: determining available spacein a virtual cluster of a plurality of communicatively coupled nodesincluded in a computing environment, the virtual cluster associated witha group of users that submit similar jobs, and comprising a logicalgrouping of nodes configured to process related jobs; determining anoptimum job that is compatible with the available space in the virtualcluster of nodes by: determining a number of available nodes in thevirtual cluster; selecting a first job from a job queue; dynamicallydetermining an optimum shape of the first job; determining whether thenumber of available nodes is enough to execute the first job, based onthe optimum shape thereof; and dynamically allocating one or more of theavailable nodes for the first job, in the event that the determinednumber of available nodes is enough to execute the first job; whereinthe optimum shape comprises one or more of: a best fit cube in which theone or more available nodes are allocated in a cubic volume so as toallow cooperating tasks to exchange data with any other tasks byminimizing the distance between any two nodes; and a best fit sphere inwhich the one or more available nodes are allocated in a sphericalvolume such that a first task is placed in a center node of the spherewith remaining tasks placed on nodes surrounding the center node so asto minimize the distance between the first task and the remaining tasks,wherein the remaining tasks communicate with the first task, but notwith each other; and executing the optimum job in the available space inthe virtual cluster of nodes.
 20. The storage medium of claim 19,wherein the method further comprises: responsive to dynamicallyallocating one or more of the available nodes for the first job,recalculating the number of available nodes in the virtual cluster; andexecuting the first job on the dynamically allocated one or more nodes.21. The storage medium of claim 20, wherein the method furthercomprises: in the event that either the determined number of availablenodes is not enough to execute the first job, or following execution ofthe first job, selecting a next job in the job queue and repeating thedynamically determining an optimum shape of the next job, determiningwhether the number of available nodes is enough to execute the next job,based on the optimum shape thereof, and dynamically allocating one ormore of the available nodes for the next job, in the event that thedetermined number of available nodes is enough to execute the next job.22. The storage medium of claim 21, wherein the job queue is initiallysorted based on a job priority.
 23. The storage medium of claim 19,wherein the optimum shape is based job dimensions, including one or moreof length, width and height.
 24. The storage medium of claim 19, whereinthe plurality of communicatively coupled nodes included in the computingenvironment is arranged in a three dimensional node structure.
 25. Thestorage medium of claim 19, wherein determining an optimum job that iscompatible with the available space in the virtual cluster of nodesfurther comprises: sorting a job queue based on job priority;determining an original subset of the plurality of communicativelycoupled nodes, the original subset comprising nodes currentlyunallocated to a job; selecting a first job from the job queue based onpriority; determining that dimensions of the selected job are greaterthan a topology of the original subset; in response to the dimensions ofthe first job being greater than the topology of the original subset,selecting a second job from the sorted job queue; and executing theselected second job using one or more processors of one or more nodes ofthe original subset.
 26. The storage medium of claim 25, wherein thedimensions of the first job are based in part on one or more jobparameters and an associated policy.
 27. The storage medium of claim 26,wherein the method further comprises dynamically allocating a job spacefrom the original subset based on the dimensions of the job, whereinexecuting the selected job comprises executing the selected job usingthe dynamically allocated job space.